Meet Morgan LeFaye Woodenson. She has her life planned out. She’ll marry Sawyer, the love of her life, and they’ll run into the sunset to be nomads, surviving off the land, not reporting to anyone, free to live their lives as they see fit.

At least, that was the plan until the imprisonment.

When reagent Orinthal’s wife dies suddenly, Faye is forced from her home and thrown into an arena to compete with every other nineteen-year-old girl in Sector Sixteen for the highly coveted place at his side. If she doesn’t win, she dies; if she does win, she loses everything she loves.

Deception and ruthlessness fill her, and she’s determined to find a way to hold on to her dreams—even if that means becoming someone she never thought she’d have to.

Jo Michaels is…

Hi, I’m Jo. Let’s forget all the “Jo Michaels is blah, blah, blah” stuff and just go with it. I’m a voracious reader (often reading more than one book at a time), a writer, a book reviewer, a mom, a wife, and one of the EICs at INDIE Books Gone Wild. I have an almost photographic memory and tend to make people cringe at the number of details I can recall about them and/or their book(s). My imagination follows me around like a conjoined twin and causes me to space out pretty often or laugh out loud randomly in completely inappropriate situations.

I have a degree in graphic design, and my journey to the end was one few students who begin that program ever complete. However, this was one case where my memory and OCD tendencies helped me. Graduation was one of the most amazing days of my life. But, my most amazing day was when my now husband proposed. Every little girl dreams of being Cinderella someday, and he pulled off the proposal of fantasies.

At the risk of sounding cliché, I’m going to let it out there and say how much I absolutely adore the man I’m married to. Along with my children, he’s my whole world.

I’ve lived in Louisiana, Tennessee, and Georgia, but I’ve had my feet in almost every state. Traveling is something I adore, and have plans to someday see the Mongolia I’ve written about in Yassa.

One of my favorite things is hearing from fans! You can find me on social media most any day of the week. Connect! I’d love to hear from you.

Hot breath that reeked of decay peppered the back of Faye’s neck as she ran. Whatever the creature was, it was no more than a step or two away. Her thighs burned as she pumped her legs as hard as she could, not stopping when she reached the sand, diving headfirst into the surf and swimming out into the ocean.

Once she was past the breakers, she slowed and looked back, searching for Katarin.

There was no sign of her anywhere.

On the shore was the beast that had given chase. It was just clear of the water, running back and forth, sniffing the air.

“Katarin!” Faye screamed the girl’s name a couple of times but stopped when the creature lifted its bald head and stared back, taking a step toward the water.

Something grabbed Faye’s ankle and pulled her under. When she resurfaced, she gasped at the oxygen, taking in the maximum amount, terrified it would happen again. Ending things in a dark, watery tomb wasn’t an item on her bucket list, and her interview with Necro came back into her mind, making her wonder if her situation were orchestrated somehow.

Katarin’s head bobbed up, and she spit water, laughing.

“That wasn’t funny.” Treading water was making Faye’s arms tired, but the beast was still on the shore, snuffling, joined by the other ones. They were running in circles, yowling in their weird way. “We can’t keep this up all night.”

“What do you think about swimming to that island?” Pointing, Katarin quirked an eyebrow.

“Island?” Faye turned around. Sure enough, there was a land mass not too far away. “It’s better than staying here, waiting for our arms and legs to get so tired we can’t stay afloat.” She sighed. “Let’s go.” After they’d gone a short way, she found her companion had fallen behind a bit. “If you need to rest, say the word, and we’ll float on our backs until we can continue. Don’t wear yourself to exhaustion.”

“Okay. I need a minute now. Can we pause?”

“Sure.” In all honesty, Faye was dog tired, but she didn’t want to lose time if she didn’t have to. Gently, she flipped over and relaxed, letting her muscles recoup as her body bobbed up and down.

Something slick rubbed against her leg, and she shot up, splashing.

“I thought we were relaxi—” Katarin screamed and splashed, too. “What the hell is that?”

A fin rose out of the water a few feet away. It wasn’t long before another appeared.

Then three more.

“Is that a freaking shark?” asked Katarin.

They were going to die. Faye was well aware sharks were most active in the late evening and early morning, and she swallowed a lump of fear as she watched the gray triangles move in circles. “It is. Several, in fact.”

“Oh my Odin! We’re gonna die!”

Trying to remember the contents of the book she’d read about surviving shark attacks, she faced the animals as they moved, trying to keep them in her line of sight in case they charged. It finally hit her, and she yelled, “Hit them in the nose if they come after you! Be aggressive! They don’t like that.”